We use property rights theory to study the effect of productivity on the trade-off between vertical integration and outsourcing at the firm-level. We develop a sharp empirical prediction that is robust across a range of property rights models, holding for single and multiple non-contractible inputs; any fixed cost difference between integration and outsourcing; and regardless of whether production is sequential or simultaneous in nature. Our prediction highlights a hitherto neglected ambiguity of the productivity effect that pushes firms towards integration in headquarter-intensive industries and towards outsourcing in supplier-intensive industries. We find considerable support for this prediction in Spanish firm-level data.

我们使用产权理论来研究生产率对企业层面垂直整合和外包之间权衡的影响。我们开发了一个敏锐的经验预测，该预测在一系列产权模型中均具有稳健性，并适用于单个和多个不可签订合同的投入；整合与外包之间的任何固定成本差异；以及生产本质上是顺序生产还是同时生产。我们的预测凸显了生产力效应迄今被忽略的模糊性，这种模糊性促使企业趋向于总部密集型产业的整合，而趋向于供应商密集型产业的外包。我们在西班牙公司级数据中发现了对该预测的相当大的支持。